Sparklers and Fireworks
by JMS529
Summary: 5 minifics written for comment fic prompts on Live Journal. Some have spoilers for Season 5. Each chapter will contain a differnt prompt.
1. Sparklers and Fireworks

Prompt:Mary, Marshall, sundress, sparklers

Mary adjusted the shoulder strap of her sundress as she held her son Wyatt Marshall Mann in her arms while Marshall was showing Nora the proper way to handle a sparkler so she wouldn't get hurt.

A smile made its way to her face as she kept hearing Nora ask her Daddy if she was doing it right.

The pride on her daughter's face as Marshall confirmed that she was warmed her heart. It was hard to believe she was married with two children. Mark had signed away his parental rights when he realized Mary would always turn to Marshall and never to him. He was hoping that Nora would bring Mary back to him.

She had broken his heart by telling him the truth about why she even hooked up with him that night, but she thought it was the right thing to do. Her jealousy of Marshall and Abigail had led her to make a rash decision. She'd regret it if it weren't for the fact that she loved her daughter and Nora was the reason her and Marshall had gotten together.

Her mind drifted back to four years ago when she'd been struggling to balance life as a single parent, affording a live-in nanny and being a U.S. Marshal. She had leaned on Marshall so much during those times that she never thought about what it was doing to his relationship with Abigail.

_Mary bounced Nora up and down trying to get her to fall asleep. When that didn't work she tried singing and then rocking in the rocking chair. It was when she went to brush her hand across her daughter's forehead that she felt the heat radiating off it. Quickly grabbing the thermometer she checked Nora's temperature. It was a 103 and Mary felt herself begin to panic. Not knowing what to do she called the only person she could think of. _

"_Hello," Abigail answered the phone groggily. _

"_I need to talk to Marshall," Mary said, unable to hide her fear. _

"_It's two o'clock in the morning, Mary. Is this work related," Abigail asked frustrated. _

"_No, just please let me talk to Marshall," Mary pleaded, and finally heard Marshall in the background. _

"_Abby, give me the phone. If she's calling this time there's something wrong." _

"_Fine, have the phone, but if you go running to her, don't even think about coming back here." _

_Mary closed her eyes and was about to hang up. She hadn't meant to cause trouble for Marshall, she just didn't know what to do. _

"_Mare? What's wrong?" _

"_I shouldn't have called. I didn't meant to cause you two to fight, I'm sorry." _

"_Mare, do not hang up the phone. Tell me what's wrong." _

_Mary explained and waited for his sound advice. She knew he would know what to do. _

"_I want you to call the doctor to see if he wants you to bring her in and I'm on my way to your house now. I'll be there in less than ten minutes." _

"_Marshall, I don't want to cause you and Abigail to breakup." _

"_Trust me, you didn't. I'll be there shortly." _

Nora's laughter brought Mary back to the present. Marshall had shown up that night and stayed with her and Nora. The fever went down after following the doctor's instructions. Marshall had sent Mary to bed and when she woke up the next morning Nora was sleeping on Marshall's chest.

Mary had felt a tinge of jealousy that her daughter was able to be so close to him. It was the start of a trend. Abigail kicked Marshall out and broke off the engagement. Marshall moved in which was supposed to be temporary until he found a new home. They grew closer every day until one day Mary finally made a move.

She smiled at that thought too. The next morning Nora woke them up and held out her hands to Marshall and said her very first words. "Da da."

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Marshall smiled as he and Nora lit another sparkler. It was his wife and son that caught his attention when she didn't answer his and Nora's call. The distant look brought a smile to his face.

They had been married for four years. He was the father of two beautiful children and the husband to a woman with a heart of gold if you looked carefully enough. They had grown through marriage and parenthood.

After the sparkler went out he held his hand out to Nora.

"Where we going, Daddy?"

"To sit with Mom and Wyatt and watch the fireworks. How does that sound princess?"

Marshall's hear melted when she beamed that familiar smile and indicated she wanted to run to where the rest of the family was. Since it was only a few feet away Marshall nodded.

"Mommy, Mommy,"

"Nora," Mary smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm.

"Daddy, said the fireworks are going to start."

"Well, you best get comfortable. You're in for one great show," Mary said.

Marshall sat down next to Mary and kissed her on the check before brushing his lips near her ears.

"I promise, Mom. You'll see your own fireworks tonight."

"I damn well, better," Mary replied, as the firework display began and she relaxed in her husbands arms as they enjoyed watching the delight on their children's faces.


	2. Sound Advice

Prompt: Abby, Jinx, "My daughter"

Jinx watched Abby as she glared at Mary and Marshall as they danced their first dance as a married couple together. It had taken a long time for Mary to admit to Marshall that she loved him, but two hearts destined to be together always seem to find their way.

Abby hated the fact that she made herself come to their wedding. She wanted to prove to everyone here that she was a bigger person then Mary. A part of her despised Mary for taking Marshall away from her and there would always be resentment on her part towards both of them. She continued to drink hard liquor through out the reception. She wanted to drown the heartache.

Abby had tried to hate Marshall for pulling away from her and towards Mary since Nora was born. She had thought the connection would fade since Mark moved to town, but instead their bond grew stronger.

One night, Marshall came home and he was different. Something had changed and she could see it by the look in his eyes. There was regret and sorrow. She had made the mistake of asking him what was wrong.

"_I don't love you the way a man should love his fiancée. I thought I could, but you're not her and she told me that she loved me today as she tried to let me go. Abby, I'm so sorry, but I can't do this. It's not fair to any of us."_

Abby had slapped Marshall in anger and regretted it the second her hand collided with his face. She foolishly promised that they could remain friends. To show no hard feelings they invited her to their wedding two years later.

Here she stood still feeling scorned.

Jinx walked over to Abby, while the rest of the room was oblivious to the young woman's feeling she wasn't. She knew hurt and anger when she saw it. She'd drank down a bottle to not see it every day for years.

Abby looked to Jinx when she walked over and stood next to her.

"Abby, my daughter has owned his heart for a very long time. Marshall is and always has been a great man. If he had thought what he had for you wasn't real or that Mary would finally come to her senses, things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. They're happier than I can ever recall seeing them both. I know it hurts, but sometime you just need to let go and walk away. You did your part by coming and trying to show support. Don't let that anger fester up inside of you. The bottle will only destroy everything you worked so hard for. Be grateful they figured things out before you married Marshall. The ending would have been twice as painful. Do yourself a favor, walk away from here, find a place where you can heal and find true love. It's been two long years of hateful glares and false truces."

"Forgive and forget?" Abby asked bitterly.

"Move on and be happy, like Mary and Marshall are."

Abby nodded and thought about the job opening in Texas. Maybe it was time to go home. With one last look at Mary, Marshall and now Nora dancing together she headed out of the reception hall and hailed a taxi to take her to the station. There was paperwork to be filled out.


	3. Rookie Mistake

Prompt: Anyone, No shit Sherlock!

Mary glared at the young inspector standing in front of her.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was trying to protect the witness from the man shooting," the young inspector replied.

"The only thing that you managed to do was put her in the line of fire, causing Marshall to have to fix the situation. The only way he could do that was to tackle her and take the bullet himself. If you had followed our instructions in the first place none of this would have happened," Mary snapped.

"Inspectors, what is going on?" Stan demanded, having heard Mary half way down the hall.

"Dip twit here decided to do his own show today. He disregarded both mine and Marshall's orders because he thought he knew it all," Mary yelled in frustration.

"I made a mistake," the young inspector said.

"No shit Sherlock."

"Mary, that's enough," Stan said, noticing the attention they were getting.

"I'm just warming up," Mary warned, but was stopped as a nurse approached them.

"Excuse me, are you Mary Shannon?" the nurse asked.

"Yes, how's my partner?"

"Mr. Mann told me to tell you and these are his words mind you, not mine. Tell Mary to get in here before disturbs the entire floor and gives me a bigger headache then the one I already have. If you would like to follow me, I can take you to Mr. Mann and you can sit with him while we wait for the x-ray to confirm there is no internal bleeding."

Stan watched Mary leave with the nurse before turning to the young inspector.

"Chief, before you say anything, I believe it would be best if I transfer to a different part of the Marshal's Service. I don't think I'm cut out for this division. I would prefer somewhere far away from Inspector Shannon."

"I think that would be wise. Fill out your paperwork on the incident and your transfer request. I'll make sure it gets processed right away."


	4. Marshall's Surprise

Prompt: Mary, Marshall Glee No Way!

Mary sat in the office alone trying to catch up on her paperwork. Marshall was out on a date with the cheerleader and Stan was out of town at a conference. Delia had finally left twenty minutes ago.

Mary continued for another half an hour before she was bored and needed a break. Knowing that no one was around, she decided to catch up on one of her secret favorite T.V. shows. If anyone caught her watching this she would never live it down. Her badass reputation would be ruined. It was really Brandi's fault she even got into it. When her sister had turned up one night and made her watch. Since then she'd been going back through the previous seasons to catch up.

She looked at the clock, decided that it really wouldn't even be an hour long. Setting up the show on her computer she put her ear buds in and began to play the show. It was funny to her how she could relate to some of the characters. Oddly enough she knew how Rachel must feel to care about someone so much, but watch them be together with someone else. When she found herself watching Finn kiss the cheerleader she decided it was time to switch to a different episode.

Watching Quinn and Finn kiss reminded Mary that Marshall was on a date and he didn't want to even think if he saw fireworks or not when he kissed Abigail. The thought sickened her.

Mary moved to the new season's episode where the kids were at the regional competition. She smiled as it came time for the songs to play. She found her head moving up and down to the music as they made their way through songs.

Rachel began to sing Halestorm's Here's to Us and Mary began to sing along with the song.

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Marshall and Abby's evening out hadn't gone very well. It seemed like lately all she did was pick on Mary and he was getting tired of it. Since their engagement, Abby seemed to be more expressive on what she thought about his partner and her life. It's what brought him back to the office.

The fight had him packing a bag and getting a hotel for the night. Unable to sleep he decided he's sneak into the office and help Mary with some of her paperwork. She was behind because of her maternity leave.

He was surprised to see her in the office, but remembered her saying something about Mark wanting the baby this weekend.

Marshall couldn't stop the smirk on his face as he watched her getting into the music she was listening to. It was a side of his partner seldom seen. Curiosity getting the best of him, he decided to find out what she was up to.

Sneaking up behind Mary, he caught sight of what she was watching and felt his mouth drop open.

"Glee, no way!" Marshall said stunned, and louder than he intended.

Mary whipped around when she heard the shocked voice and the ear buds popped out of her ears as she went to reach for her Glock.

"What the hell, Doofus!" Mary screamed, as she felt her heart pounding inside her chest.

"Sorry, I hadn't expected to see you here."

"Why aren't you with the cheerleader?" Mary asked, quickly shutting off the show.

"Better question, what the hell are you doing watching Glee?"

"It was the only thing I could find in a hurry," Mary said, knowing Marshall knew it was a lie.

"That's why you have all of the seasons downloaded?" Marshall said, peering at Mary's computer.

"You didn't answer my question," Mary said, shutting the monitor off and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Abigail had something come up, so I thought I'd help with the paperwork. I thought you'd be at home," Marshall replied.

Mary knew it wasn't the complete truth, but she could also tell Marshall didn't want to talk about it. Grabbing a stack of papers she handed them to him and watched him move to his desk.

"Marshall."

"Mare."

"Lose the smirk and not a word."

"We'll just have to see about that," Marshall said, grinning wider while ignoring Mary's glare.


	5. Mary's Discovery

Prompt:Mary & Marshall watching Porn together.

Mary and Marshall had drawn the short end of the stick on the surveillance detail. Mary flicked through the regular programs before turning to the movie rental. Having seen all the shows she wanted she flipped to the porn movies.

"Which one do you want to watch?" Mary asked, as Marshall finished throwing away the plates and napkins before double checking the surveillance equipment.

"I don't care, you choose," Marshall said, knowing Mary would pick the one she thought would embarrass him the most.

Mary looked at the titles and finally settled on one. She loved to watch Marshall's face turn red when she commented on the positions in the film and related them to her own experience. He turned a lovely shade of red and kept himself focused on the computer screen.

Marshall tuned out the movie if you could classify it as such until Mary's voice rose in shock. It was seldom that he ever heard her surprised by anything. He looked up to see what caught her attention.

"That is so not possible. How the hell do they make that look like they're actually having sex?" Mary asked, now curious to see if the genius had any reply.

Marshall looked and didn't think before speaking.

"Actually it is if both partners are flexible."

Mary turned her head as her mouth fell open. He had to be kidding.

"Really and how does that work?" Mary asked amused, thinking he was trying to get her back for watching the porn film.

Marshall began to describe the techniques involved when Mary realized that he wasn't looking at the movie to explain the physics behind it. She stared at him with nothing but a blank expression.

Having finished touching up the equipment to make sure that they had every available angle coveredoutside, Marshall looked over to Mary when he realized she hadn't said a word. So caught up in setting the equipment up he hadn't even thought about the conversation that they just had.

"Who?" Mary demanded.

"Who what?' Marshall asked.

"You know full well what. That wasn't quoted from a book that you read."

"Mary, there are some things a gentlemen doesn't discuss."

"Please all guys brag."

"No they don't. A real man doesn't need to. A pick up for a quickie in the bar is looking to score and brag. When you've been with a gentleman, you'll know the difference." Marshall said, before heading to the door. "Do you need anything to drink? I'm getting a soda."

Mary shook her head and watched her partner leave the room. Plopping back on the bed she stared at the ceiling and realized that she would never be able to look at Marshall the same.


End file.
